Monkey: Journey To The West to kickstart in USA - Damon Albarn does Opera

To the West it goes - Damon Albarn's opera "Monkey: Journey To The West" is journeying  truly to the 'west' of the world map. Fans in USA will be able to witness the show because the opera will be playing in this year’s Lincoln Center Festival.

The production, created by Damon Albarn and his Gorillaz partner Jamie Hewlett, originally premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2007. The new set of productions will be Monkey: Journey To The West's New York debut. It will be staged 27  times at the David H. Koch Theater, from July 6 to 28.

“It sold more tickets than any other single event in the 36-year history of Spoleto,” said Nigel Redden, director of the Lincoln Center Festival, “But it’s never been in New York and to some extent, many artists feel their work has not premiered in the U.S. until it has premiered in New York.”

Monkey: Journey to the West is a tale about a monk's perilous, adventurous and self-discovering journey from China to India while he searches for sacred Buddhist scripts. The opera is headed by legendary director Chen Shi-Zheng and features original music from Damon Albarn. It combines theater with illustration (by Jamie Hewlett), Chinese martial arts, acrobatics and dance. An official album of the soundtrack was released in 2008.

"A high-octane, 90-minute rock 'n' roll circus…breathtaking." —Guardian 

"A life-enhancing triumph." —Evening Standard (U.K.) / "The event of the year." —Time Out London

Even though Damon Albarn hasn't revealed any new plans for Gorillaz material, it seems that his previously rocky relationship with Jamie Hewlett has repaired, replenished and rejuvenated. After all they will be working closely together for the new set of shows in America.

Perhaps Damon Albarn will decide to release new Gorillaz material, if all goes well with Jamie and the opera. A good plan after the Blur shows of 2013?

Monkey: Journey To The West (Lincoln Centre Festival 2013)
Date	Time
Jul-06	8:00 PM (preview)
Jul-07	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM (previews)
Jul-09	8:00 PM
Jul-10	8:00 PM
Jul-11	8:00 PM
Jul-12	8:00 PM
Jul-13	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Jul-14	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Jul-16	8:00 PM
Jul-17	8:00 PM
Jul-18	8:00 PM
Jul-19	8:00 PM
Jul-20	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Jul-21	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Jul-23	8:00 PM
Jul-24	8:00 PM
Jul-25	8:00 PM
Jul-26	8:00 PM
Jul-27	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Jul-28	2:00 PM and 8:00 PM

Blur Live in Hong Kong - Buy Tickets Now

Tickets are now available for the Blur: Live in Hong Kong 2013 concert to be held on 6th May 2013 at 8:00pm, Asia World Arena (promoted by Midas Promotions).

Tickets cost HKD $680-$880 depending on the category of seating (marked, free standing, wheelchair/ disabled). Tickets are on sale from 25 February 2013 at HK Ticketing’s Venue Box Offices, K11 Select and Tom Lee Music Stores.  

Blur Live in Hong Kong 2013
Date:     Monday, 6 May 2013
Time:     8pm 
Venue:     AsiaWorld-Arena
Tickets:    HK$880 / HK$680 Standing and Seated
HK$480 Seated Only
    Available from 25 February 2013 through HK Ticketing, K11 Select and Tom Lee Music Stores
Ticketing hotline:    31 288 288
On-line ticketing:    www.hkticketing.com
HK Ticketing applies a customer service fee to all tickets purchased via its network. This fee is additional to the face value of the ticket and is payable upon purchase of tickets.
Blur official website: http://www.blur.co.uk/ 
Some more information below:

*Each person can purchase maximum 10 tickets per transaction on the 1st public on sale day.

Age Limit for Standing Zone: Restricted to Age 12 or above with Height Limit 140 cm

Age Limit for Riser Seating: Age 6

Admit One Only

NO Replacement for any loss of Standing tickets. 

To avoid delays in entering the venue and to ensure an enjoyable experience, all ticket purchasers are recommended to pick up their tickets at any HK Ticketing's outlets prior to the show day.

Smoking, outside food & beverage is prohibited in AsiaWorld-Expo.

Unauthorized photography, filming and recording is prohibited in the performance venue. All cameras and AV recorders are strictly prohibited. A bag search may be conducted.

How to get there - transportation services to the venue:

Special Airport Express Fare at Hong Kong Station/Kowloon Station ↔ AsiaWorld-Expo ($52 for Same-day Return)

Point-to-point Express Bus Route X1 - Express transit at MTR Tung Chung Station

Direct A-route Buses to AsiaWorld-Expo

The 90-minute show will be the first time Blur has ever played in Hong Kong. Frontman Damon Albarn, however, has visited the city several times as part of his Gorillaz-stint in the past few years.

Fans from Hong Kong are making a buzz on popular local discussion forum 香港討論區 discuss.hk ("香港既Britpop迷等左十幾年先等到Blur來香港!"). Local news paper Apple Daily also reported about the gig:

樂迷周一撲飛

早前Blur宣佈於5月9日到台北演出，令不少港迷嘆息，幸而樂隊已鐵定5月6日舉行香港騷，此站更成為樂隊亞洲巡迴首站。香港主辦商昨日凌晨正式宣佈Blur香港演唱會詳情後，消息隨即受到網民瘋傳兼洗版。
有本地網民昨日留言表示消息令人難以置信，也有人稱Blur首次舉行香港騷是2013年的音樂大事，樂迷紛紛計劃組團朝聖。一般網民對樂隊最貴的880元香港門票，比起英國樂隊The Stone Roses的香港門票更便宜而感到滿意。不少香港樂迷昨日紛表示準備下周一門票開售時撲飛，還有網民不怕重蹈Lady GaGa港騷炒燶飛事件，並揚言：「今次一定要掃飛，實唔怕放唔出！」

Purchase your Blur: Live in Hong Kong 2013 tickets via HK Ticketing now!

Liam Gallagher slams 'Blurasis' , starts new Britpop War

Liam Gallagher of former band Oasis has criticised his brother for being a "snake in the grass"- for playing with Blur in 2013, sparking new controversy and a whole new, twenty-first century Britpop battle. 

"Blurasis", the new term coined by a Blur fan who uploaded a performance from the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert featuring both Blur and Noel Gallagher, has become the word associated with the budding relationship between the former Britpop enemies.

The singer compared Noel Gallagher's show at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, 23rd March, where Noel sang 'Tender; with Blur's Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, to "sipping champagne with war criminals". The show raised money for supporting the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. 

'Blurasis' - Damon, Graham and Noel smiling at the Teenage Cancer Trust gig 2013

Liam has taken to social platform Twitter to start the new war between the bands. Today the musician posted a tweet (dated March 25): "Don’t know what’s worse RKID sipping champagne with a war criminal or them backing vocals you’ve just done for BLUE!"

Perhaps what he was referring to when he mentioned "sipping champagne" in the tweet was brother Noel Gallagher attending a drink at the Number 10 with Tony Blair during the height of his Britpop fame, and the important 90s feud with Blur.

Hang on- did he call Blur "Blue" accidentally on purpose? 

All Blur fans knew that Noel was the one who wished Damon Albarn would "catch aids and die" in the 1990s. Damon Albarn also exclaimed back in the Britpop battle of the bands: "I can't make up with Noel. Britpop would be over and heaven forbid that we'd ever admit we'd all grown up!". However, the two posed happily together in recent award shows and even played together in the historical concert this Saturday as part of Blur's new set of gigs. 

Could this be another harsh attack on Blur? Another Britpop battle and feud?  It could be that the tweet was a direct attack on brother Noel. Liam Gallagher is known for tweeting about his brother's new projects ("High flying smurfs") and for making bold, public statements about other musicians. 

Read all about the historical Noel / Damon / Graham Teenage Cancer Trust gig, which yielded in new Blur material HERE. 

Check out the setlist HERE. 

Opinions - Liam's tweet is
	just a joke - no harm
	What a *&$#@!
	He meant it
	Liam who ?
	Blur deserved it - they are sleeping with the enemy
	No comment

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Happy Birthday to Damon Albarn ... Blur frontman turns 45!

Happy Birthday Damon Albarn! The Blur frontman turned 45 years old on March 23rd this year. 

To celebrate, here are some original funny Blur memes we created. Some of the best Damon Albarn pictures are also below. 

It's been over 23 years since Damon Albarn, then an unknown Goldsmiths University student, had decided to give up acting and become a full-time musician and singer. 

 

 

Blur fact: Did you know - Dave Rowntree is actually the oldest member of Blur, not Damon Albarn!